you shall take an awl and pierce a hole through his ear to the door. ¹  Then he will become your servant permanently (this applies to your female servant as well).

Observe the month Abib ¹  and keep the Passover to the Lord your God, for in that month ²  he ³  brought you out of Egypt by night.

You must then do as they have determined at that place the Lord chooses. Be careful to do just as you are taught.

Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God redeemed you from there; therefore I am commanding you to do all this.

That day Moses made this solemn promise: ¹  ‘Surely the land on which you walked ²  will belong to you and your descendants permanently, ³  for you remained loyal to the Lord your God.’

She said, “The Philistines are here, ¹  Samson!” He woke up ²  and thought, ³  “I will do as I did before ⁴  and shake myself free.” But he did not realize that the Lord had left him.

but Hannah did not go up with them. ¹  Instead she told her husband, “Once the boy is weaned, I will bring him and appear before the Lord, and he will remain there from then on.”

Now the priests would always treat the people in the following way: ¹  Whenever anyone was making a sacrifice, while the meat was boiling, the priest’s attendant would come with a three-pronged fork ²  in his hand.

David said to Jonathan, “Tomorrow is the new moon, and I am certainly expected to join the king for a meal. ¹  You must send me away so I can hide in the field until the third evening from now.

The king sat down in his usual place by the wall, with Jonathan opposite him ¹  and Abner at his side. ²  But David’s place was vacant.

So David and his men, who numbered about six hundred, set out and left Keilah; they moved around from one place to another. ¹  When told that David had escaped from Keilah, Saul called a halt to his expedition.

David replied to Achish, “That being the case, you will come to know what your servant can do!” Achish said to David, “Then I will make you my bodyguard ¹  from now on.” ² 

Then Abner called out to Joab, “Must the sword devour forever? Don’t you realize that this will turn bitter in the end? When will you tell the people to turn aside from pursuing their brothers?”

I have not lived in a house from the time I brought the Israelites up from Egypt to the present day. Instead, I was traveling with them and living in a tent. ¹ 

I will establish a place for my people Israel and settle ¹  them there; they will live there and not be disturbed ²  any more. Violent men ³  will not oppress them again, as they did in the beginning

But the king said, “What do we have in common, ¹  you sons of Zeruiah? If he curses because the Lord has said to him, ‘Curse David!’, who can say to him, ‘Why have you done this?’”

She said, “In the past they would always say, ‘Let them inquire in Abel,’ and that is how they settled things.

My dynasty is approved by God, ¹  for he has made a perpetual covenant with me, arranged in all its particulars and secured. He always delivers me, and brings all I desire to fruition. ² 

The district governors acquired supplies for King Solomon and all who ate in his royal palace. ¹  Each was responsible for one month in the year; they made sure nothing was lacking.

Night and day may you watch over this temple, the place where you promised you would live. ¹  May you answer your servant’s prayer for this place. ²